The Environment Agency have told News OnTheWight they will be only reviewing what happened with the flood barriers at Simeon Rec on Wednesday once we are out of the current incident of heavy rain and flood impacts.
Expressing their heartfelt sympathies with those who are experiencing the devastating impact of having their homes and businesses flooded, a spokesperson told from the Environment Agency explained to News OnTheWight,
“Our current priority is our emergency response across the Isle of Wight, Hampshire and Sussex, and we are working with local councils and the emergency services to prepare for more bad weather in the coming days and protect the community.
“We will review our response to this latest flood once we are out of this incident.”
Questions over flood gates
It’s understood — and they haven’t denied it when asked — that the Environment Agency had instructed their contractors to place only two boards (slats) across flood gates. This is despite an Amber heavy rain warning for the Island.
Following this, extreme heavy rain fell overnight and countless homes flooded in the area.
Later on Wednesday the contractor was instructed to increase the number of boards in readiness for last night’s heavy rain.
Will review whether extra flood boards would have reduced the flooding
The Environment Agency spokesperson went on to explain what the review would include,
“As part of an overall review of our response to the intense rainfall across the Isle of Wight, we will review whether additional flood boards would have reduced the flooding at Monkton Mead, given the volume of water and speed that levels rose, and whether we could have responded differently given the circumstances.
“This will help us improve our response to flooding, and that of our partners, in the future.”
More unsettled weather
River levels are likely to remain elevated over the next few days, along with the weather continuing to be unsettled, so the EA ask people to keep checking their flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation on the website.
You can also call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or follow @EnvAgencySE on X (formerly known as Twitter) for the latest flood updates.
